Brothers to the End
by Dandelion Cat
Summary: During his search for Naraku, Sesshomaru discovers his brother's friends mourning over Inuyasha. Will his hatred for his younger brother get in the way of possibly saving him?


Brothers to the End

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Inuyasha. Starts crying.

He was walking through the forest, making his way towards Naraku's newest hideaway. His booted feet moved with ghostly silence and grace along the path. He was in no hurry; there was no reason to run around searching for Naraku. Whether it was now or later, Naraku was a dead man.

A breeze rustled the branches of the trees around him and it was then that Sesshomaru smelled it . . . blood. The scent filled his nostrils, demanding his attention, and he immediately identified the source.

_Interesting._

Unconsciously he began to drift towards its location.

Sesshomaru walked out into a clearing and was met by a gruesome sight. His half-brother, Inuyasha, was lying on the ground soaked in his own blood. The girl, Kagome, was sobbing into his chest, the front of her shirt stained by Inuyasha's blood. The little fox demon, Shippo, was sitting behind Kagome, wailing in misery. The monk, Miroku, was holding the demon slayer, Sango, in his arms as they cried together softly. None of the group seemed to have noticed that Sesshomaru was present.

For the moment, he was content to remain undetected as he looked at his half-brother. He didn't feel sad. There was no way that the great Sesshomaru would be saddened by his brother's death. Absolutely no chance.

Meanwhile, Sesshomaru noticed that Inuyasha's body was beginning to take on the scent of a corpse and the blood around him was beginning to dry. Obviously, his brother had been dead for a while.

It occurred to Sesshomaru that he should head back to meet up with Jaken and Rin, who would surely be anxious because of his delay. But, for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to leave. There was something holding him back, some reason that he couldn't seem to take his eyes off of his brother.

With a sigh that even Shippo's demon hearing couldn't pick up, Sesshomaru began to walk towards Inuyasha's defeated body.

A gasp came from Kagome as she finally sensed Sesshomaru's presence. She turned to face him slowly, and her eyes were glazed over with pain. He looked back down at her, his expression emotionless. Everything felt off balance, like something was seriously wrong. He absolutely hated this feeling.

As if of its own will, his hand suddenly shifted to grasp the handle of one of his swords. Swiftly, he pushed Kagome out of the way and drew his katana from its sheath. The polished blade shone in the light, the sharpened edge taking on a lethal beauty. Messengers from the underworld appeared, surrounding the corpse, and Sesshomaru sliced through them with the Tenseiga.

For a long moment, nothing happened and Inuyasha remained motionless. Then, Sesshomaru picked up the sound of a faint heartbeat coming from Inuyasha's body. Then, after half a second, his chest began to rise and fall as his lungs filled with air.

Another moment went by, and the sound of Inuyasha's faint breathing was the only noise to be heard. Then, a soft groan was heard and Inuyasha's eyelids fluttered open. The group gasped in unison - minus Sesshomaru - and Kagome let out a sob as she buried her face in Inuyasha's chest.

No longer seeing a need to stay, Sesshomaru turned to leave.

As he walked away, he heard the group fussing worriedly behind him.

"Wait, Inuyasha! You're in no condition to -"

"Stop!"

"You're going to hurt yourself -"

Interested, he peered back to see his brother trying to push himself into a sitting position. Seeing his stubborn expression, Kagome helped him sit up, causing Inuyasha to grunt.

"Hold on, Sesshomaru."

Sesshomaru stopped and waited for him to continue. He felt strange doing this, but it was rare for his brother to speak without a hostile tone. It made him curious.

"You brought me back to life with the Tenseiga, didn't you?"

"I did."

"Why?"

Sesshomaru didn't respond.

"I thought you hated me. Why would you go out of your way to save me?"

His curiosity satisfied, Sesshomaru walked away.

"Damn it, Sesshomaru! Answer me!"

Sesshomaru halted just as he was about to enter the tree-line.

"Because – nobody harms my little brother but me."

And, with that, he disappeared from sight.

* * *

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